Recording Traffic Stop Lands Davie, Florida Woman In Jail

[Purveyor]

FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A Davie woman plans to sue the Broward Sheriff’s Office after she was forced to spend the night in jail for using her cellphone to record a deputy during a traffic stop.

Last March, 33-year old Brandy Berning was pulled over by Lt. William O’Brien after she reportedly drove in the HOV lane at the wrong time, according to The Sun-Sentinel.

As O’Brien approached her vehicle, Berning hit the record button on her phone. She recorded about 15 seconds of the conversation before telling O’Brien that he was being recorded. That’s when the deputy told her she had just committed a felony and demanded that she hand over her phone.

Berning refused.

Bernings phone recorded her arguing with O’Brien for the next four minutes, he insisting that she was under arrest and must hand over her phone, she insisting that she didn’t do anything wrong.

At one point O’Brien reportedly reached into the vehicle and grabbed Berning’s wrist, spraining it, according to the paper. Berning said O’Brien got into her passenger seat and reached for her keys as he tried to force her from the car.

more...

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/02/20/recording-traffic-stop-lands-davie-woman-in-jail/

[ForgoTheConsequence]

1. If you have nothing to hide......

Isn't that what they always tell us?

[Bonx]

2. Seems obvious to me

"In Florida, both parties are required to know when a conversation is being recorded. Berning recorded about 15 seconds of her conversation with O’Brien before informing him she was doing it.
However, it is legal for third parties to record a law enforcement officer performing their duties."

If a third party can record a law enforcement officer performing their duties, the person being accosted by the Officer should be accorded the same right.

[unblock]

3. do police with dashcams inform every driver they stop immediately that they're being recorded?

[davidn3600]

4. Government loves watching you, but they hate it when you watch them

"A citizen's right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public space, is a vital, and well-established liberty of the first amendment."
-Glik vs Cunniffe
U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals